Having returned from the sun drenched sands of Florida, as I mentioned in my previous post, I figured it's about time to start recording what has been happening.
At this point in my life, I ride outside as long as there is no snow on the ground. I also hate "riding indoors," although I've never actually tried it before this year, I just hate the idea of it. But, having contemplated trainers and rollers, I added a set of rollers to my Amazon list prior to Christmas:
Surprisingly, my Mom actually purchased this for me and so here I was, safely positioned in a doorway of a dark basement trying not to fall over. And no, I was not wearing a helmet.
If you are trying to decide between rollers and a trainer, here are six questions to ask yourself. I didn't ask myself any of these questions, except that this seemed like the most affordable way to ride my bike inside. Given the sometimes bipolar Michigan weather, I also liked the idea of being able to ride my bike inside or outside, as is, without changing tires (tyres) or wheels. Per this article from Cycling Tips, "trainers are hard on the rear tyre so it will wear out very quickly."
Apparently, my rollers are also hard on Continental Gatorskins, because this is what my rear tire, or tyre, looked like after a few 30 minute sessions:
On a side note, if you can ride more than 30 minutes at time inside, you are mentally stronger than I am. Anyway, I'm not sure what exactly caused this particular issue, but the time came to change out the tire so I could ride in Florida, and the weather is somewhat clearing in Michigan now as well. My local bike shop recommends the Specialized Roubaix Pro tires. I haven't had any issues with these tires in the past (that's what I currently have on the front after slicing my front tire on a glass bottle last year), so that is what I went with, despite what Kent from Plano, TX had to say:
"I have gone through two sets of these tires and have had flats." Welcome to cycling. "Everytime it was because of something picked up in the road." As opposed to something picked up in the...air? "After one flat I bought another set of these tires..." Seems a little hasty. "...only to have another flat a few weeks later." Again, welcome to the world of cycling. Now, I could blame my Gatorskins for the fact that I wasn't completely paying attention and hit that broken glass bottle. But flats happen, and it's not always the tires fault.
So I got the new tire on relatively quickly, given my general lack of mechanical abilities, and so far so good. I did some riding in Florida and a couple commutes since my return to the frigid north country. But more on that to come. For now, I'll just say, I have had no flats. Call it the tires, good fortune, or whatever you like...
Finally, speaking of tires, if you are in the Kalamazoo / Grand Rapids area there is a hot deal right now on a few tire pumps on Craigslist. I'm almost positive these would work for Schrader and Presta valves.
Your welcome,
Clay
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